PERKINS  LIBRARY 

Duke    University 


Kare   DooLn 


TRIBUTE    OF  RESPECT      i 


niE  avjoiv   of 


IlEV.  JOHN  TODD  EDGAR,  D.  P. 


I'UTCk'     ' 


h  FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,'] 


SILVILLE,      i  I 


'VJil.ISl 


: r.  ciinicir 


NASH1  TENN.:  | 

T.     P.     FALL,     R<    OK      AND     J      B     PRINTER,       1. 
cor:  ''  '  ■,"N  L:"  ' 


i 


V 


i  :  i 


P 


TRIBUTE    OF  RESPECT 


TO    THE    MEMORY    OF 


REV.  JOHN  TODD  EDGAR,  D.  D., 


TASTOR   OF    THE 


FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH, 


NASHVILLE,     TENNESSEE. 


PUBLISHED    BY    THE  CHURCH. 


NASHVILLE,  TENN. : 

J  0 II  X     T.     S.     FALL,     BOOK     AND     JOB     PRINTER, 

CORNER    OF    COLLEGE    AND    UNIOK    STREETS. 

1860. 


PREFACE. 


It  is  with  reluctance  that  the  author  has  felt  constrained,  through  the  solici- 
tations of  many  of  the  friends  and  admirers  of  the  late  John  T.  Edgar,  D.  D., 
to  consent  to  the  publication  of  the  following  discourse.  But,  while  he  does 
not  feel  at  liberty  to  disregard  the  wishes  of  others  in  this  matter,  he  feels  it 
is  due  to  the  memory  of  the  deceased  to  state,  that  the  discourse  was  very 
hastily  prepared, — as  it  was  desired,  and  confidently  expected  till  the  evening 
immediately  preceding  the  funeral  services,  that  one  of  the  Professors  of  the 
Theological  Seminary  at  Danville,  Ky.,  would  be  present  to  officiate, — thus 
leaving  one  night  only  for  the  work  of  preparation.  With  this  explanation,  the 
discourse  is  furnished  for  publication  just  as  delivered,  with  only  an  occasional 
change  in  phraseology,  and  the  addition  of  a  few  foot  notes. 


OMTUAIiY. 


The  Rev.    John  Todd  Edgab,  D.  D.,  died  of  Apoj 
lay,  November  18th,  1800,  at  8  o'clock,  A.  U. 
years  and  7  months. 

The  Sabbath  morning  preceding  his  death  he  preached  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church  id  Edgefield,  and  baptized  the  child  of  the 
.1.  !'.  Eendrick,  pastor  of  said  church.    Sabbath  night  lie 
bed  in  the   Firsl    Presbyterian  Church  of  Nashville,  of 
which  he  was  the  beloved  pastor  from  1888  until  his  death,  a 
■■I  of  twenty-seven  y< 
Monday,  he  was  quite  unwell  all  day;  but  attended  and  con- 
ducted the  usual  weekly  prayer- meeting,  at  night,  as  was  his 
i.     Al  the  close  of  the  prayer*meeting  he  moderated  a 
ing  of  the  Session  of  the  church,  at  which  his  remarkable 
us  the  subject  of  observation.     Ee  retired  to  rest 
that  nightat  the  usual  hour;  but  about  1  o'         .  addenly sprang 

Up  in  bed,  throwing  both  hands  to  his  head  with  an  e.v!:n  . 

real  physical  Buffering.     It  was  the  fatal  stroke  of  Apo- 

II     boob  sunk  into  a  Btate  of  unconsciousness,  and 

continued   in   this  state  till   s  .  when  he  quietly  ami 

fully  Jett  asleep  in  Jtms.    God  often  extorts,  in  a. dying 

hour.         '      irge  Whitfield,  that  testimony  tollis  grace  w 

was  not  fully  given  in  life;  but  lie  who  has  lived  faithfully  can 

rilent.    Such  was  the  case  with  our  departed  friend 

and  brother.      God  saw   there   was  no   necessity  for  d.  dying 

testimony.  J-  B. 


PEOCEEDING8 


OP   TDK   MKKTING   OF  TH1 


PASTORS  AND  CLERGY  OF  NASHVILLE  AND  VICINITY, 


IN  REFENENCE  TO  THE  DEATH  OF  THB 


REV.    J-OXIIINr    T_    EDGAR,    3D.   ID. 


Pursuant  to  a  call  through  the  city  papers,  the  pastors  and 
clergy  of  the  various  denominations  of  Nashville  and  vicinity 
met  in  the  Lecture  Room  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  at 
10  o'clock,  A.  M.,  Wednesday,  November  14th,  1860. 

Rev.  R.  B.  C.  Howell,  D.  D.,  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church,  was  called  to  the  Chair,  and  Rev.  W.  M.  Reed,  pastor 
of  the  First  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  was  appointed 
Secretary. 

After  a  few  appropriate  and  touching  remarks  by  the  Chair- 
man, Dr.  Howell,  explanatory  of  the  object  of  the  meeting,  all 
joined  in  prayer,  conducted  by  Rev.  Thos.  O.  Summers,  D.  D., 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

On  motion  of  the  Secretary,  the  Chairman  appointed  a  com- 
mittee  of  five  to  prepare  a  preamble  and  resolutions  ex  pi 
of  the  sense  of  the  meeting,  in  view  of  the  solemn  and  Bad 
occasion  by  which  they  were  convened. 

The  Chairman  announced  the  following  gentlemen  to  com- 
pose said  committee : 

Rev.  L  I).  Huston,  D.  D.,  of  the  Meth<  I  Church; 

Mr.  Smith,  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church;  Rev.  Mr. 


-  of  Tin: 


Ford,  ol  :   ft  v.  W.  B.  Ward,  of  the  Cum- 

berland neb,  and  Rev.  J.   >.   Hays,  of  the 

tan  Church. 

committee  haying  retired,  the  meeting  was  feelingly 
addressed  by  Rev.  br.  Lindsley,  who  spoke  of  the  noble  and 

sited   traits  of  character  of  tin  1 — among  which  he 

out  that  of  charity,  as  pre-eminently  exhibited  In  his 

life  and  labors  in  all  the  varied  relations  in  which  the  speaker 

had   known    him,  of  pastor  and  counsellor,  CO-pn  and 

Christian. 

Rev.  l>r.  Elliott  said,  it'  he  were  called  upon  to  delineate  the 
predominant  feature  in  Dr.  Edgar's  characl  should  speak 

of  him  as  a  comforter,  inimitable   in   the  sick-room,  warm  and 
generous  in  bis  sympathies,  ever  ready  with  swe<  -of 

consolation  for  the  bereaved  and  Borrowing;  a  friend  and  coun- 
sellor for  whom  he  had  cherished  the  profoundest  gratitu 
and  whose  loss  he  mourned,  both  as  a  persona]  and  public 
calamity. 

.  Dr.  Gfoodletl  spoke  of  his  eminent  social  qualities  and 
pulpit  excellences  as  worthy  of  imitation,  and  deeply  mourned 
his  loss. 

Rev.  M'.  Oampbell  said  he  had  known  him  intimately  from 
his  arrival  in  Nashville,  and  dwelt  with  emphasis  upon  the 
catholicity  of  his  Christian  spirit. 

Rev.  Mr.   Fall  spoke  very  tenderly  of  the  deep  piety  and 
Inent  Christian  life  of  his  departed   friend,  whom  he  had 
known  for  many  long  years. 

.  M  r.  Bardwell  said,  associated  as  he  had  been  for  some 
time  with  1  >r.  Edgar,  as  co-pastor,  he  had  enjoyed  opportunities 
perhaps,  with  which  no  one  else  had  ever  been  favored,  of 
witnessing  his  inner  life,  and   never  had  he  known  a  man  of 


PASTORS  AMD   CLERGY. 

truer  purposes  of  right,  or  nobler  aims  in  religion;  generous, 
firm ;  naturally  a  man  of  strong  feeling,  positive  in  all  the 
elements  of  his  character — he  manifested  in  a  striking  maDner 
the  powers  and  influence  of  the  grace  of  God  upon  his  heart. 
As  Paul  to  Timothy,  so  had  the  lamented  dead  ever  been  to 
him. 

The  committee  returned  and  presented  the  following  pream- 
ble and  series  of  resolutions,  which  were  unanimously  adopted : 

Whereas,  The  painful  intelligence  has  come  to  our  ears  of  the  sudden  death 
of  lUv.  John  Todd  Edgar,  D.  D.,  senior  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  in  this  city,  which  event  occurred  at  his  residence  Tuesday  morning,  at 
8  o'clock,  November  13th,  i860,  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  pastors  and  clergy  of  the  city  of  Nashville  and  vicinity, 
his  fellow-laborers  in  the  ministry,  and,  wo  believe,  the  entire  community, 
receive  this  intelligence  Avith  the  most  profound  sensation  of  sorrow. 

Resolved,  That  we  recognize  in  our  departed  brother  the  oldest  minister  in 
the  city ;  one  whose  age  and  long  service  in  the  ministry  had  identified  his 
name  with  the  moral  and  religious  progress  of  this  city  and  of  the  State  ;  one 
whose  influence  extended  over  more  than  one  generation;  whose  life  was  one 
protracted  devotion  to  his  fellow-men;  whose  eye  was  single  to  the  success  of 
the  Redeemer;  whose  soul  was  generous,  fraternal,  and  sympathetic  ;  whose 
rarely-gifted  mind  was  cultivated  to  an  unusual  degree  ;  whose  bearing  and 
voice  amid  his  fellow-men  commanded  the  cheerful  respect  of  all ;  whose  heart 
was  ever  open  to  the  widow's  cry  and  the  orphan's  wail,  and  who  was  at  once 
an  ornament  to  the  pulpit,  to  the  social  circle,  and  to  his  race. 

r,/,  That  we  take  this  occasion  to  record  our  devout  gratitude  to  Him 
who  ruleth  in  the  Church  and  among  men,  for  raising  up  and  preserving  to  us 
for  so  long  atime,  one  so  thoroughly  fitted-by  nature,  grace,  and  oultiratioB  for 
the  great  work  of  the  gospel  ministry. 

Rr  solved,  That  while  we  humbly  submit  to  this  dispensation  of  Divine  Prov- 
idence, we  cannot  suppress  our  deep  regret  at  the  loss  which  the  Church  and 
the  community  have  sustained. 

Resolved,  That  in  his  life  of  patient  and  fervid  devotion  to  the  cause  of  his 
Master,  there  is  left  for  the  mini-try  an  important  lesson,  which  it  becomes 
them  carefully  to  study,  and  diligently  to  improve. 

Resohfj,  That  we.  the  ministry  of  Nashville,  earn  is  our  sense  of  the 

painful  chasm  which  the  death  of  this  venerabh-  ]>a-!nr  ha*  made  in  the  heart 
of  his  Church,  still  less  the  desolation  that  must  reign  in  the  bosom  of  his 
family,  to  both  of  which,  and  to  his  bereaved  colleague,  we  hereby  tender  our 
profound  sympathies. 


FUHIBAL  OBSEQUIES. 

That  a  copy  "f  then  resolutions  be   transmitted  to  the  family  of 
the  deceased,  and  lie  published  in   the  city   papers  and  in  the  Presbyterian 

:i. 

On  motion  .  mers,  th<  rgy  of 

tyandvi  N   shville  were  requested  to  meet  in  the 

Lecture  Room  of  the  First  Presbj  terian  Ohurch, Thursday,  the 

16th  bast.,  at  10  o'clock.  A.  M..  to  attend  the  funeral  of  the  Rev. 

Join i  T.  Edgar,  D.  D.,  deceased. 

On  motion,  the  meeting  adjourned  with  singing  and  benedic- 
tion. R   B.   C.   IIOWELL,  C/un'n. 

W.  M.  Reed,  Sa?y. 


FUNERAL    OBSEQUIES. 


Pursuant  to  a  resolution  adopted  at  the  meeting  of  the  pastors 
and  clergy  of  the  city  and  vicinity  held  the  day  previ 

number  of  ministers  assembled  at  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  Thursday,  10  o'clock,  A.  M.  At  11  o'clock  they  pro- 
id  in  procession  to  the  house  of  the  deceased,  whence  the 
body  was  borne  to  thechurch  by  the  officers  of  the  first,  second, 
and  Edgefield  Presbyterian  ohurohes,  the  clergy  proceeding  in 
front  of  it.  The  capacious  church  was  immediately  filled  to  its 
Utmost  capacity  by  the  numerous  friends  and  admirers  of  the 
deceased. 

The  services  were  introduced  by   Invocation,  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Strahan,  of  Ky.jafter  which  followed  the  reading  of  the  142d 


FUNERAL   OBSEQUIES. 

hymn*  by  Eev.  Dr.  Howell ;  reading  of  the  Scriptures  by  Rev. 
J.  T.  Hendrick;  prayer  by  Rev.  J.  S.  Hays;  reading  of  the 
353d  hymnf  by  Rev.  Mr.  Fall ;  sermon  by  Rev.  Joseph  Bard- 
well ;  prayer  by  Rev.  J.  B.  Lindsley,  D.  D.;  reading  of  the  633d 
hymn  by  Rev.  Ira  Morey;  and  the  Benediction  by  Rev.  Dr. 
Eagleton,  of  Murfreesboro. 

The  congregation  then  attended  the  body  to  its  resting  place 
in  the  city  cemetery.  At  the  grave  the  639th  hymn  was  read 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Huston,  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  and  sung  by 
the  choir.  The  Rev.  "W.  M.  Reed  of  the  Cumberland  Presby- 
terian Church,  made  a  brief,  appropriate  address,  and  Rev.  Dr. 
Eagleton  concluded  with  prayer.  The  mournful  proces- 
sion then  wended  its  way  back  to  the  city,  feeling  that  they 
had  consigned  to  the  city  of  the  dead  the  mortal  remains  of  one 
esteemed,  admired  and  beloved  by  all. 

*  This  hymn  was  used  by  the  deceased  at  the  close  of  the  services,  Sabbath 
night,  and  read  with  peculiar  tenderdess  and  emphasis. 

f  This  hymn  was  a  special  favorite  with  Dr.  Edgar,  and  the  last  hymn  that 
he  ever  read  and  united  in  singing  at  the  prayer-meeting  the  night  before  his 
death. 


FUNERAL   DISCOURSE, 

PREACHED  AT  THE  OBSEQUIES 


REV.  JOHN  T.  EDGAR,  ]).  D., 


REV.  JOSEPH   BARDWELL, 

NOVEMBER   15TII,    1860. 


FUNERAL  DISCOURSE. 


When  our  Lord  was  going  to  his  crucifixion  surrounded  by 
his  malignant  enemies,  there  followed  "a  great  company  of 
people,  and  of  women,"  bewailing  him  with  tears  and  lamenta- 
tions. Their  hearts  were  bursting  with  inconsolable  grief  at 
the  prospect  of  seeing  him  whom  they  loved,  nailed  to  the 
accursed  tree,  and  expiring  in  shame  and  agony.  So  intently 
were  their  minds  fixed  upon  the  gloom  incident  to  his  cruel 
death,  that  they  descried  not  the  after-glory.  Little  did  they 
think  of  "the  triumphs  which  were  to  succeed  this  humilia- 
tion, and  the  inconceivable  blessings  which  were  to  result  from 
the  agonies  of  the  Cross."  But  in  the  midst  of  their  grief  and 
despondency,  our  blessed  Lord  turned  to  them  and  said, 
"Daughters  of  Jerusalem,  weep  not  for  me,  but  weep  for  your- 
selves." 

And,  on  this  mournful  occasion,  when  we  are  assembled 
around  the  mortal  remains  of  one  whom  we  all  love,  and 
whom  Jesus  loves — while  our  hearts  are  bleeding,  and  the 
fountains  of  our  grief  are  all  unlocked,  a  voice  seems  to  issue 
from  that  sacred  coffin,  saying,  weep  not  for  me,  but  weep  for 
yourselves. 

Though  he  has  fallen  in  the  midst  of  domestic  endearments, 
of  social  happiness,  and  of  pastoral  usefulness;  though  all  the 
sacred  ties  of  kindred  and  affection  are  suddenly  sundered,  the 
bonds   of  friendship   loosened,   the  labors  of  a  beloved 
faithful  Pastor  ended,  and   the   lights    of  earthly   hope  i 


12  FUNERAL    DIG 

gui.-l:  Bj  faith  we  behold  his 

ill.1  tin-  araptared  with  a 

nly  vision  of  his  .  then,  well 

"B    ised  are  the  dead  who  die  in  the 

i." 

Weep  not  for  the  sainted  dead;  for  though  the  King  of 

terrors  has  selected  for  his  victim  one  who  sustained  the  en- 
dearing relations  of  husband,  father,  brother,  friend,  pastor — 
though  he  has  smitten  the  aged  head  of  a  family,  the  beloved 
pastor  of  a  church,  and  the  faithful  and  disin- 
d  friend,  and  Bpread  desolation  through  a  scene  so 
replete  with  similing  joy, — still,  "triumphant  faith"'  exclaims, 
weep 

This  mournful  dispensation  of  Providence,  'tis  true,  vi  I 
simply  a-  a  temporal  event,  presents  an  accumulation  of  dis- 
and  calamity,  of  utter  ruin  and  hopelessness,  that  would 
Beem  to  shut  out  every  ray  of  consolation  ;  but.  when  viewed 
in  the  light  of  the  Gospel,  and  in  connection  with  the  glorious 
consequents  whieh  follow,  all  the  darkness  of  the  scene  islost 
in  the  effulgence  of  a  "hope  full  of  immortality."  Though 
startled  by  the  sudden  Bummons,  death  found  him,  "stall'  in 

hand  and  pilgrim  sh<>d,"'  ready  to  enter  the  unseen  world. 

''.\  .-nut  prep&r'd  needa  no  delays, 
The  -imimons  comes,   the  Bain)  obe; 
Bwifl  wm  )i\<  flight,  and  shorl  the 
He  cloh'd  hie  eyes,  and  mi  hia  Qod." 

B  Brethren,  nature  must  feel,  and  the  fountains  of  grief 
must  be  Opened.  We  are  here  tO-day  in  the  sanctuary  of  God, 
feeling  that  His  hand  is  upon  us.     Truly  a  standard  bear  r  in 

tin  hosts  of  I  -■     .  /An  event  so  sudden,  so  solemn, 

,  and  SO  wide-spread   iii  its   influence,  occurs    not 

Often  in  a  course  of  ages.    This  whole  city  with  its  business 


FUNERAL    DISCOURSE.  13 

marts  closed,  its  courts  of  justice  with  their  deliberations 
suspended,*  this  large  and  sympathizing  assemblage  of  min- 
isters, this  vast  congregation  so  solemn  and  so  deeply  moved, 
these  weeping  relatives  and  friends,  and  this  sanctuary  all 
draped  in  mourning,  show  that  an  event  of  no  ordinary  impor- 
tance has  occurred  in  our  midst.  Nor  need  I  repeat  what  has 
already  been  uttered  by  a  thousand  tongues — "Dr.  Edgai;  is 
deap  !"  Brethren  and  friends,  would  that  I  could  this  day 
take  m}-  seat  with  you  as  a  silent  mourner  around  this  con- 
secrated spot;  would  that  I  could  give  vent  in  sighs  and  tears 
to  the  feelings  of  a  heart  burdened  with  grief  and  responsibili- 
ty ;  and  would  that  I  could  listen  to  words  of  comfort  and 
consolation — words  replete  with  hope  and  encouragement, 
falling  from  the  lips  of  wisdom  and  experience.!  But  God  has 
ordered  it  otherwise.  May  His  grace  sustain  and  direct  me  in 
the  discharge  of  the  solemn  and  responsible  duty  now  devolv- 
ing upon  me. 

Should  I,  on  this  mournful  occasion,  attempt  to  address  to 
you  a  formal  discourse,  I  would  perhaps  select  as  my  text  such 
words  as  these,  "  Mark  the  perfect  man,  and  behold  the  up- 
right;  for  the  end  of  that  man  is  peace."  Ps.  xxxvii.  27. 
I  should  seek  to  show  you  from  the  word  of  God  that  the 
foundation  of  all  perfection  in  man,  is  the  righteousness  and 
grace  of  Christ;  that  he,  and  he  alone,  is  the  perfect  man,  who, 
by  faith,  has  received  and  stands  clad  with  the  justifying 
of  a  crucified  Redeemer ;  and  that  he,  and  he 
alone,  is  "  upright"  who  has  been  renewed  by  the  grace  of  God, 
and  u  erected  from    his   fallen   and   mil  in  sin  1 

*By  proclamation  of  the  Kiayoz  there  was  a  general  suspension  of  In. 
in  (lie  city,   and  the   Chaoeerj   Court,  then  in   session,  Chancellor  Frierson 
ing,  adjourned  for  the  day. 

fScc  Preface. 


14  rUNSRAL   DEB 

almighty  power  of  the  Holy  l  Such   a  character  is 

formed  upon  principlea  infinitely  superior  to  any  thing,  which 
can  result  from  man's  unrenewed  nature,    All  his  moral  beauty, 

the  work  of  divine  grace. 
I  should  then  consider  '>>■  end  oft]  ght  man, 

— that  it  is  usually  tranquil  and  peaceful  in  life,  calm  and 
unshaken,  and  often  joyful  and  triumphant,  in  death,  and  in- 

ivably  Messed  in  eternity.  And  I  might  then, also,  point 
you  to  the  Divine  injunction  which  makes  it  our  imperative 
duty,  as  well  as  interest  and  privilege,  to  mark  and  fonder  well 
the  pi  which  God  thus  gives  for  our  edification 

and  comfort,  in  the  dying  experience  of  his  dear  children. 
Such  an  example  we  have  vividly  before  us  at  this  time,-  one 
whoai  in  a  most  remarkable  manner,  the  character  of 

the  perfect  and  upright  man  thus  descril  i  d. 

But    instead    of  attempting    any    formal    arrangement  of 
thoughts  upon  a  text  of  scripture,  1  desire  to  obey  thesptrtitof 

junction  just  quoted,  by  presenting,  in  a  very  desultory 
manner,  such  thoughts  as  almost  spontaneously  arise  on  an  oc- 

oasion  like  the  present 

Wei  erabled  to-day,  in  this  house  of  mourning,  around 

the    mortal    remains   of  one   whom    we   all    have   known,    and 

known  to  love  and  revere.  It  will  not  be  amiss,  then,  that  I 
briefly  recall  to  mind  some  of  the   prominent    facta  connected 

with  his  life  and  death. 

The  Rev.  John  Todd  lulgar,  1).  I  >.,  wa<  horn  in  Delaware, 
April  L8,  1792.  At  a  very  early  age  he  removed  with  his 
parents  to  Kentucky,  in  the  bosom  of  which  State  lie  made 
his  home  till  his  removal  to  this  city.  Having  completed  his 
academic  and  collegiate  course  in  the  State  of  his  adoption,  Jhe 
entered  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey, in 
1813  or  '14,  and  was  licensed  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  Bruns- 


FUNERAL    DISCOURSE.  15 

wick  in  1816.  He  then  returned  to  Kentucky  and  accepted  a 
call  from  the  Presbyterian  church  at  Flemingsburg,  and  was 
ordained  and  installed  pastor  of  the  same  in  1817.  A  few  years 
subsequent  to  this,  he  received  and  accepted,  a  call  from  the 
Presbyterian  church  at  Maysville,  Ky.  His  third  pastoral 
charge  was  at  Frankfort,  Ky.;  and  his  fourth  and  last,  in  this 
city.  In  obedience  to  a  call  from  this  church,  he  removed  to 
Nashville,  in  August,  1833,  and  was  installed  pastor  of  the 
same  soon  afterwards,  which  relation  he  has  sustained  with 
eminent  success  and  unabated  satisfaction  to  the  present  time. 
During  his  ministry  here  he  received  into  the  communion 
of  this  church  some  eight  or  nine  hundred  persons,  and  baptized 
about  one  thousand  children.  Of  those  who  constituted  the 
original  membership  of  this  church  at  the  time  he  became  its 
pastor,  only  a  few  survive  to  mourn  his  death.  Of  the  original 
eldership,  which  consisted  of  Nathaniel  A.  McNairy,  James  C. 
Kobinson,  and  Robert  H.  McEwen,  one  only  remains  to  repre- 
sent the  generation  fast  passing  away.  These  few  statistics  will 
be  sufficient  to  recall  to  the  minds  of  most  of  you  the  labors  of 
one  with  whom  you  have  been  so  long  and  so  intimately  asso- 
ciated. Truly,  "Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord  ; 
for  they  rest  from  their  labors,  and  their  works  do  follow  them." 
I  need  scarcely  remind  you,  my  brethren,  that  I  stand  not 
here  to-day  to  rehearse  the  praises  of  him  whom  we  all  mourn. 
I  shall  attempt  to  pronounce  no  eulogy  upon  the  dead.  He 
needs  none.  His  monument  is  erected  in  the  hearts  of  this 
community,  irrespective  of  sect  or  party.  And  as  to  the  att'ec- 
tion  and  confidence  of  his  immediate  church  and  congregation, 
it  is  not  too  much  to  say,  that  it  hasbeeo  almost  akin  to  idolatry. 
He  was  the  pastor  whom  they  loved  most  ardently,  in  whom 
they  reposed  the  most  unbounded  confidence,  and  of  whom 
they  were  justly  proud.     Such  a  man  needs  no  eu" 


16  L£    DX9001 

mortal  lips,  much  loss  from  one  BO  unworthy  and  so  incompe- 
tent  to  the  tat 

mpt  to  speak  in  eulogistic  strains  of 

the  virtues  and  62  which  adorned  the  character  of  our 

tted  father  and  brother,  still  it  is  eminently 

tning  that  I  should  briefly  allude  to  some  of  these  traits  of 

character  which  marked  him  oul  as  the  perfect  and  upright  man, 

whose  example  we  should  study  and  imitate.     And  in  doing 

this,  my  object  will  be  to  unfold  the  treasures  of  Divine  mercy, 

to  recount  the  triumphs  of  infinite  grace,  aud  to  present  to  your 

view  a  signal  manifestation  of  the  purity  and  excellency  of  that 

pel  which  he  so  ardently  loved,  and  on  which  he  grounded 

all  his  hopes  for  lime  and  l'or  eternity. 

:  of  all,  he  ever  cherished  a  deep  sense  of  personal  guilt 
and  ill-desert  Though  abundant  in  labors,  and  rich  in  works  of 
holy  obedience,  yet  none  more  ready  to  renounce  his  own  right- 
,  and  to  exalt  the  mercy  and  grace  of  God.  His  only 
plea  al  the  mercy  Beat  was  the  mediation  and  intercession  oi  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ;  justification  through  faith  in  a  crucified 
Red  em  t.  was  the  anchor  of  his  soul.  lie  was,  therefore,  the. 
perfect  man,  being  clad  in  the  justifying  righteousness  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  heir,  through  him,  to  all  the  blessings  of  the  001 
nant.  Those  wh.»se  privilege  it  has  been  to  sit  under  his  min- 
istry can  testify  t<>  the  prominence  which  this  great  doctrine  of 
grace  held  in  all  his  pulpit  ministrations.  The  cross  was  his 
constant  theme;  he  never  tired  unfolding  its  excellency  and 
power.  Like  the  Apostle  he  could,  and  did  often  say,  "God 
forbid  that  I  should  glory,  save  in  the  cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ ;"  and,  "  1  am  determined  to  know  nothing  among  you, 
save  JeSUS  Chrisl  and  him  crucified." 

A  second  distinguishing  trait  of  character — one  which  enti- 
tles him  to  the  appellation,  the  upright  man — was  his  depend- 


FUNERAL    DISCOURSE.  17 

ence  upon,  and  his  rich  experience  of  the  renewing  and  sancti- 
fying grace  of  God.  He  loved  to  glorify  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the 
work  of  salvation;  and  in  all  his  labors  for  the  spiritual  welfare 
of  others,  he  always  recognized  his  absolute  dependence  upon 
Divine  grace  for  any  and  every  measure  of  success.  Who  of 
us  can  ever  forget  his  fervid  intercessions  at  the  mercy  seat  for 
the  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit— that  God  would  accompany  the 
preached  word  with  the  demonstration  and  power  of  the  spirit  of 
all  grace?  Without  abating  one  jot  or  tittle  of  laborious  chris- 
tian effort,  he  ever  looked  to  the  Holy  Spirit  as  the  only  and 
all-sufficient  source  of  success :  "  Not  by  might,  nor  by  power, 
but  by  my  spirit,  saith  the  Lord." 

Coupled  with  this  deep  and  abiding  sense  of  unworthiness 
and  absolute  dependence  upon  the  righteousness  and  grace  of 
Christ,  was  a  most  intense  hatred,  and  awful  dread  of  sin.  In 
exact  proportion  to  his  sense  of  pardoning  mercy,  and  his  love 
to  the  Savior,  were  his  terror  and  abhorrence  of  all  iniquity. 
It  was  in  view  of  that  cross  where  Jesus  agonized  and  expired 
under  the  dread  penalty  of  human  guilt,  that  he  formed  his  esti- 
mate of  sin.  He  studied  sin  in  the  light  of  the  cross.  There, 
stripped  of  its  blandishments,  unmasked  in  its  deformity,  and 
exposed  in  its  seductions,  it  was  revealed  to  him  in  its  true  char- 
acter, as  odious  to  God  and  ruinous  to  man.  And  this  profound 
sense  of  the  infinite  malignity  of  sin,  produced  in  him  not  only 
deep  contrition  and  penitence,  but  a  tenderness  of  conscience 
which  shuddered  at  the  least  approach  of  evil,  and  an  irrepres- 
sible desire  for  complete  deliverance  from  all  moral  pollution, 
— a  hungering  and  thirsting  after  righteousness.  The  grace  of 
God  enabled  him  to  live  at  the  foot  of  the  cross,  and  in  sight  of 
His  law.  The  word  of  God,  Oh,  how  sweet  to  his  taste  !  It  was 
his  study  day  and  night.  No  one  could  approach  him,  without 
recognizing  the  traits  of  a  prominently  religious  character.  His 
2 


18  FUNERAL     Dl 


piety  was  a  fresh  ruin.  ":ied  from  the  river  of 

<       .  or  rather,  he  stood  "like  a  tree  planted  by  the  rivers  of 

Waters,    which    brought    forth   his  fruit  in   his   season"- 
"  bringing  forth  fruit  in  old  age." 

He  was  eminently  a  man  of  prayer,  and  a  lover  of  the  sanc- 
tuary. II"W  often  did  he,  with  tears  and  affection,  chide  the 
e  of  God  for  the  neglect  of  the  ordinances  of  His  housel 
He  seemed  never  to  weary  of  serving  God  in  his  sanctuary. 
Indeed,  a  large  part  of  his  life  was  spent  in  the  delightful 
(  if  social  worship.     And  in  this  capacity  he  had  few  equals, 

His  ability  in  prayer  was  proverbial,  and  never  failed  to  impress 
his  fellow-worshippers  with  peculiar  emotions  of  awe  and  solem- 
nity. They  felt  as  though  they  were  listening  to  one  who  was 
talking  face  to  face  with  God,  Hifl  heart,  submissive  to  God, 
was  calm  and  steadfast,  while  others  were  troubled,  and  flowed 

"  Like  the  tide  of  the  full  and  weary  sea 
To  the  depths  of  its  own  tranquility." 

Another  remarkable  effect  of  his  christian  experience,  was 
superiority  to  the  world.  This  world,  in  his  estimation,  was  as 
the  dust  of  the  balance.  Few  men  possessed  a  keener  relish  for 
the  endearments  of  kindred  and  affection,  and  the  blessings  of 
social  life.  The  gifts  of  Providence  were  as  heartily  enj 
by  him  as  by  any;  but  he  received  them  as  coming  from  his 
Heavenly  Father,  and  used  them  as  not  abusing  them.  While 
he  lived  in  the  world,  he  endeavored  to  live  above  it — to  keep  it 
under  his  feet,  remembering  that  his  citizenship  was  in  heaven. 
Elevated  were  hia  views  above  the  things  of  time,  and  ardent 
his  aspirations  after  perfect  holiness  and  the  full  vision  of  his 
Divine  Redeemer. 

His  affections  being  eminently  sanctified,  it  was  but  natural 
that  love  and  benevolence  should  reign  pre-eminent.  The 
former  was   Catholic;  the  latter  almost   unbounded.     Closely 


FUNERAL    DISCOURSE.  19 

allied  to  these  and  springing  from  them,  was  the  principle  of 
charity,  which  was  so  beautifully  developed  and  exemplified  in 
the  character  of  Dr.  Edgar.  It  might  be  said  with  truth,  that 
he  was  charitable  in  all  things.  But  one  form  in  which  this  prin- 
ciple was  eminently  exemplified,  was  his  sympathy  for,  and 
liberality  to  the  poor  and  suffering.  The  children  of  affliction 
and  poverty  ever  found  in  him  a  sympathizing  and  beneficent 
friend.  The  members  of  this  church  and  congregation  can 
bear  ample  testimony  to  the  depth  of  his  sympathy,  the  fervor 
of  his  prayers,  and  the  earnestness  of  his  efforts  in  behalf  of 
the  suffering  poor.  As  was  remarked  by  one  who  had. long 
known  him  intimately,  "had  he  been  possessor  of  hundreds  of 
thousands,  so  great  was  his  charity  that  he  would  have  known 
experimentally  the  rare  grace  of  poverty."  But  I  need  not 
dwell  upon  these  virtues  and  excellencies  of  his  character; 
they  are  known  to  this  whole  community.  Of  a  truth  may  it 
be  said  of  him,  that  he  was  a  living  epistle,  known  and  read  of 

all   men. 

Dr.  Edgar  was  a  man  of  a  decided,  positive  character.  There 
was  nothing  negative  about  him.  While  courteous  and  affable, 
he  was  always  frank,  open,  and  above-board  in  all  he  said  and 
did.  I  need  not  say  that  he  was  a  noble,  high-toned  christian 
gentleman,  for  this  was  a  proverbial  remark  concerning  hirn. 
There  was  an  honest  earnestness  about  him,  and  a  noble  frank- 
ness every  way  worthy  of  the  christian  gentleman  and  christian 
minister,  that  more  than  redeemed  the  errors  into  which  his 
ardor  may  have  at  times  betrayed  him.  To  say  that  he  was 
perfect  in  an  absolute  sense,  would  be  to  make  him  more  than 
human.  But  who  of  us  can  approximate  his  standard?  None 
more  ready  to  acknowledge  his  imperfections  than  he;  but,  be 
they  few  or  many,  they  were  always  exposed  to  view,  for  such 


20  FUNERAL    DISCO! 

was  the  transparency  of  his  character,  that  his  heart  and  life 
were  open  to  all. 

As  a  bushand,  father,  brother  ami  master,  he  was  all  that 
could  be  desired.  More  than  this  I  dare  not  say,  for  I  dare  not 
intrude  upon  the  sanctities  of  the  domestic  circle — I  dare  not 
the  inner  sanctuary  of  the  heart.  I  therefore  pass  from 
these  Baaed  scenes,  where  no  "strangers'  feet  may  rudely  tread," 
to  contemplate  our  venerated  father  and  brother  in  his  ministe- 
rial and  pastoral  capacity.  Few  men  ever  exhibited  more  of 
clear  and  sound  intellect,  of  tender  and  melting  pathos,  and  of 
bold  and  manly  eloquence. 

"With  eloquence  innate  his  tongue  was  armed." 
His  vigorous  and  well-cultivated  intellect,  his  varied  and  exten- 
sive attainments,  his  wonderful  command  of  language,  his  fine, 
commanding  person,  his  sparkling  eye,  and  his  rich,  melodious 
voice,  all  combined  to  make  him  one  of  the  most  eloquent  and 
effective  preachers  of  the  age.*  None  more  useful  and  more 
universally  beloved  in  their  day  and  generation.  May  I  not 
appropriately  apply  to  him  a  part  of  the  epitaph,  engraven  upon 
the  tablet  of  the  immortal  Harvey  ? 

11  How  did  his  genius  shine, 
Like  heaven's  bright  envoy  clad  in  power  dinvine ! 
When  from  his  lips  the  grace  or  vengeance  broke, 
'Twas  majesty  in  arms,  'twas  melting  mercy  spoke." 

Of  his  pastoral  relations  to  this  church,  it  would  perhaps,  be 
presumption  in  me  to  speak.  For  twenty-seven  years  he  has 
labored  faithfully  and  patiently  among  you,  and  has  reaped  a 

*  It  is  related  of  the  lion.  Henry  Clay,  that  on  a  certain  occasion,  in  the 
earlier  part  of  his  life,  after  making  one  of  his  most  eloquent  and  effective 
speeches,  he  was  congratulated  by  a  friend.  Turning  to  his  friend,  he  said  in 
substance,  "  You  call  me  eloquent,  but  if  you  wish  to  hear  eloquence,  go  to 
Frankfort  and  hear  a  young  Presbyterian  minister  by  the  name  of  John  Todd 
Edgar. 


FUNERAL    DISCOURSE.  21 

rich  harvest  in  the  ingathering  of  many  precious  souls  into  the 
garner  of  the  Lord.  During  that  long  period,  there  has  never 
been  a  communion  season  in  this  church  without  the  addition 
of  some  to  your  number ;  and  never  but  once  has  he  been 
absent  from  you  on  such  occasions,  at  which  time  it  was  my 
privilege  to  minister  in  his  stead.  He  has  been  with  you  in 
prosperity  and  in  adversity,  in  joy  and  in  sorrow,  in  health 
and  in  sickness,  in  life  and  in  death.  In  all  these  vicissitudes 
of  life  he  has  been  a  comforter;  yes,  pre-eminently  a  comforter. 
Your  own  memories  will  readily  recall  his  tender  and  soothing 
accents,  his  earnest  and  holy  prayers,  and  his  deep,  heartfelt 
sympathy  in  the  chambers  of  the  afflicted,  the  sick  and  the 
dying.  But  what  more  need  I  say  on  these  points?  Silence 
and  tears  are  more  becoming  and  more  eloquent  than  words. 

May  I  not,  however,  on  this  occasion,  bear  my  public  testi- 
mony to  that  uniform  kindness,  courtesy  and  affection,  which 
my  dear  departed  father  and  brother  has  ever  shown  me  in  all 
our  labors  and  intercourse  during  our  intimate  association  in 
the  pastoral  work.  In  his  own  language,  uttered  in  the  hearing 
of  some  present,  "  Our  relation  has  been  like  that  of  Paul  and 
Timothy."  And  now  that  he  has  gone  to  join  "  Paul,  the 
aged,"  in  the  services  of  the  church  triumphant,  God  grant  that 
his  mantle  may  fall  upon  many  Timothys  in  the  church  militant. 

And  now,  brethren,  God  is,  by  this  sudden  and  desolating 
providence,  preaching  to  us  a  sermon  more  impressive  than 
mortal  man  can  preach !  This  silent  bier,  this  solemn  sanctu- 
ary, and  yonder  greedy  grave,  all  seem  vocal  with  a  message 
from  the  God  of  heaven,  saying,  "  Be  ye  also  read}r." 
Your  beloved  pastor,  now  cold  in  the  arms  of  death,  stood 
before  you  last  Sabbath  night  as  an  embassador  for  Christ, 
beseeching  you  to  become  reconciled  to  God.  His  text — who 
can  ever  forget  it?  "  God  speakeOi  once,  yea  twice ;  yet  man  per- 


22  rUHBAL    DIS0OUBB& 

.■■/."—  -T « .1  >,  xxxiii:   14.     With  what  affection  and  ear- 

1  he  urge  impenitent  sinners  to  listen  to  the  voice  of 
:    having  exhausted  every  plea,  with  what  holy 

nee  and  awe  did  be  appeal  to  the  great  God,  to  know 
why  He  should  yet  speak  longer  to  rebellious  men  I  As  if  pro- 
phetic of  his  sudden  departure,  he  asked  in  substance,  "  M'/ry 
ahould  thy  servant  labor  longer?"  The  answer  God  has  now 
given— so  sudden,  so  unexpected,  s<>  awfully  impressive!  My 
dear  impenitent  friends,  can  you  ever  forget  that  last,  that  affec- 
tionate, that  almost  dyii\g  appeal  of  youraged  and  beloved  pastor? 
i  mber,  it  came  from  one  who  loved  you,  and  who  had  your 
eternal  interests  near  at  heart;  who  has  labored  and  prayed  for 
your  salvation  :  and  one  too,  whose  feet  had  well  nigh  "paoood 
the  threshold  of  the  heavenly  gate,"  tad  whose  ear  had  almost 

lit  the  symphonies  of  the  upper  world!''  That  noble 
form  will  never  again  enter  this  pulpit.  No  more  will  you  gaze 
upon  those  features,  so  radiant  with  love  and  beneyoleooe  and 
holy  zeal;  no  more  will  you  listen  to  that  voice,  so  rich  in 
BO  euts  of  mercy  to  attract,  and  so  terrible  in  denunciation  of 
wrath  to  warn — so  full  of  tenderness  and  affection  as  it  was 
lifted  in  your  behalf  at  a  throne  of  grace.  The  watchman  upon 
Zion's  wall  has  now  sounded  his  last  note  of  warning.  God 
has  said  unto  him,  "It  is  Snongh;  OOme  up  higher."  Oh,  let 
his  solemn  words  of  admonition  and  entreaty,  which  you  have 
BO  often  heard,  and  which  now  come  to  you  in  silent  eloquence 
from  that  lifeless  form,  sink  deep  into  your  hearts!  May  the 
spirit  of  God  engrave  them  indelibly  upon  the  tablet  of  the 
soul.  Remember  how  earnestly  he  prayed  for  your  conversion, 
how  faithfully  he  warned,  and  how  affectionately  he  entreated 
you;  yes,  entreated  you  with  tears  and  prayers  to  come  to  the 
blessed  Redeemer  and  be  saved.  And  can  it  be  that  those 
prayers  and  tears,  those  warnings  and  entreaties  shall  be  forgot- 


FUNERAL    DISCOURSE.  23 

ten  !  Yes,  it  may  be  so ;  but  how  aggravated  your  guilt !  how 
awful  your  condemnation ! !  Should  such  be  your  guilty  doom, 
reflect, — for  what  wise  purpose  of  God's  providence  you  have  so 
long  enjoyed  the  faithful  ministry  of  this  eminent  servant  of 
Christ.  "Was  it  only  that  amid  the  fearful  scenes  of  the  judg- 
ment day,  he  should  then  stand  as  a  swift  witness  against  you, 
to  testify  that  God  did  call,  while  you  refused ;  and  that  His  arm 
was  stretched  out,  while  you  obstinately  rejected  the  proffered 
salvation  ? 

Christian  brethren,  the  members  of  this  bereaved  church, 
this  solemn  event  speaks  with  peculiar  emphasis  to  you.  For 
many  long  years  God  has  provided  you  with  a  faithful  shepherd 
to  lead  you  into  green  pastures,  and  beside  the  still  waters.  You 
have  enjoyed  the  ministrations  of  one  eminently  qualified  by 
nature  and  by  grace  for  breaking  unto  you  the  bread  of  life. 
Tli is  sanctuary  has  been  to  many  of  you  your  spiniual  birth- 
place, and  your  beloved  pastor,  whose  noble  form  now  lies 
before  you,  your  spiritual  father.  Like  Paul  to  the  Thessalo- 
nians,  he  can  say  of  you,  What  is  my  hope,  or  joy,  or  crown  of 
rejoicing  ?  Are  not  even  ye  in  the  presence  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  at  His  coming  ?  For  ye  are  my  glory  and  joy.  Well 
may  you  exclaim  with  the  prophet  Elisha,  "  My  father,  my 
father,  the  chariot  of  Israel,  and  the  horsemen  thereof."  You 
will  miss  him  in  the  public  and  social  ministrations  of  the 
sanctuary;  you  will  miss  him  in  the  chamber  of  sickness  and 
affliction,  and  you  will  miss  him  in  all  the  holy  and  tender 
relations  of  pastor  and  people.  But  you  will  remember  his 
godly  counsels;  you  will  cherish  his  affectionate  entreaties, 
and  you  will  follow  his  example,  as  he  followed  his  and  your 
Savior. 

And  now  brethren,  that  your  aged  pastor  is  gone,  you  are 
called,  in  a  most  affecting  and  impressive  manner,  to  a  renewed 


2i  FUNERAL    1 


consecration  of  yourselves  to  the  Master's  service.     With  some 

of  v.ni   the  'lav    is  far  spent,  and  with  all,  the   time  is  short ; 

•.  there/on,  your  ha  •  ,  do  it  with  your  might 

Hebcinj  </"/-/.  yd  tpeahdh.    Metbinks  the  disembodied  spirit 

still  hovers  around  that  lifeless  form  j  it  seems  to  stand  once 
more  in  this  saered  desk,  uttering,  with  mute  eloquence,  words 
of  affectionate  warning  and  entreaty.  Methinks  I  hear  him 
saving  to  us,  put  on  the  whole  armor  of  God  ;  gird  up  the  loins 
of  v.mr  minds;  fight  the  good  fight  of  faith;  lay  hold  OB  eter- 
nal life.  The  gates  of  the  celestial  city  have  just  opened  before 
him,  and  now  he  speaks  to  us,  in  words  not  lawful  for  man  to 

of  the  ineffable  glories  of  that  heavenly  world — of  that 
which  u  uncorruptible,  and  undeJUcd,  and  that  fadeth 
not  away.  Soon,  very  soon,  you  must  all  meet  him  in  the  world 
of  spirits;  and  when  you  shall  see  him  robed  in  whit'-  at  the 
right  hand  of  the  Judge,  God  grant  that  you  may  be  prepared 
to  unite  with  him  in  the  song  of  redemption:  "To  Him  who 
loved  us.  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  His  own  blood." 

What  v,( irdsof  comfort  and  cons*  ilal i< >n,  my  dear  friends,  shall 
I  address  to  you,  the  bereaved    family?     In  this  event  God 
has  come  very  near  you,  and  has  given  you  such  a  clear  inani- 
tion of  the    future    world,  as    must   involve  no  ordinary 

e  of  responsibility.  Never  perhaps,  till  you  are  yourselves, 
called  to  pass  over  Jordan  and  mingle  with  departed  spirits, 
will  you  again  enjoy  such  overpowering  evidence  of  religious 
truth — such  full  discoveries  of  eternal  things.  But  your  hearts 
arc  too  heavily  burdened  with  grief,  for  me  to  dwell  upon  these 
thoughts  now.  In  the  midst  of  your  deep  desolation,  however, 
it  must  1><-  a  subject  of  delightful  recollection  to  you  that  you 
have  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  being  united,  in  the  most  cmlcm- 
ing  of  all  relations,  with  one  so  lovely  in  character,  of  an  intel- 
lect so  highly  improved,  of  benevolence  and  piety  so  eminent, 


FUNERAL    DISCOURSE.  25 

and  so  entirely  devoted  to  the  best  and  noblest  of  all  causes. 
You  have  been  highly  honored  of  God,  and  now  doublv  hon- 
ored in  having  a  husband,  father,  brother — seated  upon  a  throne 
of  glory. 

But  nature  must  weep  its  joys  fled.  The  wounded  heart  must 
bleed  ;  the  fountain  of  grief  must  flow.  But  you  will  remember 
that  Divine  Friend  who  is  nearer  and  better  than  husband, 
father,  or  brother.  This  mighty  Redeemer  will  be  the  rock  of 
your  confidence,  and  your  present  help  in  all  trouble.  The 
God  of  Jacob  bless  you  and  comfort  you,  and  grant  you  grace 
according  to  your  day.  I  cannot  say,  do  not  wee}) ;  but  do  not 
weep  for  the  sainted  dead.  This  event,  so  desolating  to  your 
hearts,  has  sealed  his  eternal  blessedness.  He  is  now  an  heir  of 
glory,  rejoicing  with  the  celestial  throng,  and  bowing  with 
devout  gratitude  and  adoring  admiration  before  the  throne  of 
God  and  the  Lamb.  True,  he  was  called  to  pass  through  much 
tribulation — at  times  to  drink  deeply  of  the  cup  of  earthly 
sorrow;  but  Jesus  has  wiped  all  tears  from  his  eyes,  and  "the 
days  of  his  mourning  are  ended."  He  encountered  many  labors 
in  the  Master's  service ;  he  fought  a  good  fight,  and  nobly  fell 
at  his  post,  an  old  veteran  soldier,  covered  with  the  scars  of 
many  a  well  fought  battle,  yet  fully  clad  in  armor  and  battling 
to  the  last.  But  his  last  battle  is  now  fought.  The  victor's 
crown  is  won.  He  is  "a  conqueror  and  more  than  conqueror 
throuh  Him  who  loved  him." 

"Dear  pastor,  husband,  friend  and  head, 

We  loved  thee  living,  and  we  mourn  thee  dead; 

Wliy  should  we  weep,  for  at  His  gracious  word 

Thou'rt  absent  from  the  flesh,  but  present  with  the  Lord." 

Fathers  and  brethren  in  the  ministry,  may  I  venture  to 
utterance  to  the  language  of  this  dispensation  as  addressed  to 
us?     The  death  of  a  faithful  minister  of  the  gospel,  in  its  bear- 


26  FUNERAL    DISCOUHSK. 

ft  A6lemn  and  far-reaching  event.  No  other  class 
of  men  so  pervade!  the  entire  texture  of  society;  none  whose 
death  alVeets  so  many  heart-,  makes  so  many  mourners,  or 
touches  so  many  chords  of  affection,  as  that  of  a  faithful  and 
•  1  pastor.  See  how  every  tie  in  this  whole  community  is 
touched — every  heart  is  weeping!  The  young  and  the  aged, 
the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  living  and  the  dying,  all — all  had 
found  in  him  a  friend,  a  brother,  and  a  father;  and  more  than 
all,  a  man  of  God  with  words  of  timely  warning  and  entreaty, 
of  peace  and  consolation.  Now  that  he  is  gone,  upon  whom 
shall  his  mantle  fall?  Well  may  we  exclaim,  our  fathers,  vh>>re 
ar*  theyt  and  'he  prophets,  do  they  live  forever?  "The  Master 
has  been  in  His  garden,  and  has  gathered  some  of  the  choicest 
of  its  fruit,  and  others  are  soon  to  be  gathered."  The  time  is 
abort;  vrbataoerer  our  hand  finds  to  do,  let  us  do  it  with  our 
aught  Behold  (fir  Judge  stomdeth  at  t/w  door  !  Are  we  ready? 
"Behold,  I  come  quickly,  and  my  reward  is  with  me,  to  give 
to  every  man  as  his  work  has  been;  even  so,  Lord  Jesus,  come 
quickly — Amen." 


TRIBUTE  OF  RESPECT. 


The  subjoined  tribute  to  the  memory  of  Eev.  John  Todd 
Edgar,  D.D.,  is  taken  from  the  Presbyterian  Herald.  The 
author  will  at  once  be  recognized  as  the  Rev.  Robert  J.  Breck- 
enridge,  D.  D.,  an  old  and  intimate  friend  of  the  deceased. 

The  sudden  death  of  this  eminent  minister  of  the  Gospel, 
at  his  residence  in  Nashville,  Tennessee,  of  apoplexy,  has 
already  been  almost  universally  noticed  by  the  press.  It  is 
with  no  purpose  of  adding  to  that  publicity  that  a  few  simple 
lines  are  now  written  by  a  hand,  that,  for  forty-four  years, 
habitually  clasped  his  in  love.  Moreover,  the  most  exacting 
reverence  of  his  friends,  could  hardly  have  anticipated  the 
numerous  and  unusual  public  testimonials  which  spontaneous- 
ly and  fervently  commenorated  his  noble  and  useful  life,  and 
deplored  his  untimely  death.  Neither  is  it,  therefore,  to  give 
new  expression  to  grief  or  to  admiration,  by  one  who  had 
grounds  and  knew  reasons  for  both,  far  beyond  what  most 
men  could  have  or  know.  But  it  is  in  order  to  throw  to- 
gether, in  a  brief  and  connected  form,  some  of  the  main  facts 
and  dates,  and  incidents  of  his  life,  and  to  allude  to  some  of 
the  more  distinguishing  traits  of  his  private  and  public  char- 
acter; so  that  something  approaching  a  simple  but  just  outline 
of  him,  may  not  be  wanting. 


28  TRIBUTE   OF   RES! 


He  was  born  in  the  State  of  Delaware,  it  is  believed  in 

1  -luty,  on  the  18th  of  April,  1792,  and  died  at  Nash- 
ville, Ten  on  the   13th  of  November,  being  well  ad- 

1  in  his  sixty-ninth  year.  His  parents  were  of  thai 
Scotch- Irish  race,  amongst  whom  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
was  first  planted,  partially  occupying  the  two  lower 
counties  of  the  Eastern  shore  of  Maryland,  and  the  adjoining 
county  of  Delaware,  in  which  Dr.  Edgar  was  born.  They  re- 
moved to  Kentucky  in  1799,  when  he  was  seven  years  old 
his  father  being,  like  nearly  all  the  early  Presbyterian  emigra- 
tion to  this  State,  by  occupation  a  fanner.  The  family  settled, 
and  lived  for  many  years,  in  the  bounds  of  Cherry  Spring 
congregation,  in  the  present  County  of  Scott,  but  finally  re- 
moved  into   the  bounds  of  Mt.  Pleasant  congregation,  in    the 

,t  County  of  Harrison.  I  have  no  certain  information  of 
the  early  education,  or  first  religious  impressions  of  Dr.  Edgar; 
my  acquaintance  with  him  having  commenced  in  1816,  upon 
his  return  from  the  Seminary  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  where 
he  studied  theology,  and  of  which  Institution  he  was  amongst 
the  earliest  students.  He  was  licensed  to  preach  the  Gospel  in 
ly   before  his   return,  probably  by  the  Presbytery  of 

Brunswick,  in  1816.  His  first  charge,  over  which  he  was 
ordained  by  the  Ebenezer  Presbytery  in  1817,  was  the  church 
in  Flemingsburg,  Kentucky;  his  second  charge  was  the  church 
at  Maysville,  Kentucky.  He  spent  ten  years  in  these  two 
churches;  how  much  of  that  period,  exactly,  in  each,  I  do  not 
know.  In  the  year  1827  he  removed  to  Frankfort,  Kentucky, 
and  became  pastor  of  the  church  in  that  city,  which  he  served 
during  six  years.  In  1833  he  became  the  pastor  of  the  church 
in  Nashville,  Tennessee,  at  that  time  the  only  Presbyterian 
Church  in  that  city,  and  served  it  twenty-seven  years — to  the 
close  of  his  life.     He  served   God,  in  the   preaching   of  the 


TRIBUTE  OF  RESPECT.  29 

Gospel  of  His  grace,  forty-four  years  from  his  licensure,  and 
then  fell  asleep  in  Jesus. 

Though  his  labors  were  particularly  devoted  to  the  four 
special  charges  that  have  been  mentioned,  they  were,  neverthe- 
less, widely  bestowed  throughout  the  churches  of  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee;  and  during  his  long  ministry,  very  many 
churches,  and  many  thousands  of  persons,  scattered  over  most 
of  the  other  States,  heard  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  from 
his  eloquent  lips.  All  four  of  the  pastoral  charges  of  Dr. 
Edgar  were  important  charges ;  each  of  these  being  also  the 
only  Presbyterian  Church  in  its  particular  city  when  he  took 
charge  of  it.  More  particularly  at  Frankfort,  which  was  the 
capitol  of  Kentucky,  and  at  Nashville,  which  became  the  capitol 
of  Tennessee,  was  he  brought  into  contact,  habitually,  with 
many  of  the  most  influential  persons  in  both  of  those  States. 
So  that  few  ministers  have  enjoyed,  for  so  long  a  period,  such 
wide  opportunities  to  bring  the  influence  of  the  Gospel  to  bear 
effectually  upon  great  communities,  both  by  means  of  his  pub- 
lic and  private  life. 

It  should  be  added  that  no  inducement  to  leave  the  pastoral 
work  ever  shook  for  a  moment  his  decided  preference  for  it, 
and  yet  how  great  these  inducements  often  were,  in  his  own 
estimation  even,  may  be  judged,  in  some  degree,  by  his  great 
love  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Danville,  which  he  had  so 
considerable  a  share  in  founding,  and  whose  directors  he  pre- 
sided over  from  its  origin  till  his  own  death ;  and  yet  his 
steady  refusal  even  to  consider  the  offer,  again  and  again  sug- 
gested, of  the  chair  in  it,  most  appropriate  to  his  past  labors 
and  his  increasing  age.  And  his  great  services  to  that  Institu- 
tion, were  but  a  sample  of  the  constant  course  of  his  minis- 
terial life;  insomuch  that  every  public  institution  for  good 
doing  within  his  reach,  more  especially  every  one  connected 


80  TRIBUTE   OF   URH 

with  the  church  of  which  hfl  was  •  minister,  found  constant 
■id  in  his  wise  coo  ;.  bis  warm  support     Scrupulously 

punctual  in  all  things,  and  exact  in  doing  whatever  he  engaged 

to  do,  the  court?   of  his   church,  daring  his   whole   ministry, 

•   ally  objeotS  of  his  earc  and  duty  as  his  Sabhath  day 

And  in  this  service,  the   fruits  of  whieh   are  beyond 

estimation,  he  received,  what  so  few  in  that  church  can  ever 

ve,  thai  highest  mark  of  its  approval,  in  being  chosen,  in 
1842,  the  Moderator  of  its  General  Assembly.  Respected  by 
all  who  knew  him,  and  no  man  was  more  widely  known; 
admired  by  great  numbers  of  those  most  competent  to  form  a 
ju.-t  judgment  of  him;  tenderly  loved  by  his  friends,  amongst 
whom  were  numbered  persons  in  every  condition  of  life,  up  to 
the  very  highest  ;  trusted  by   all   men,  and  approved  of  God, 

M  ready  to  be  offered,  and  the  time  of  his  departure  has 
come;  he  has  fought  a  good  fight,  he  has  finished  his  course, 
lie  has  kept  the  faith  ;  and  the  Lord,  the  righteous  judge,  has 
gi  vi -n  him  the  crown  of  righteousness  which  was  laid  up  for 
him ! 

As  a  man,  Dr.  Edgar  was  endowed  so  richly,  that  in  what- 
ever condition  his  life  had  been  cast,  he  would  have  adorned 
it,  and  have  been  widely  felt  in  it.     His  appearance,  to  the  last, 

tnking;  and  in  his  prime,  he  was  a  fine  specimen  of 
manly  beauty.  Ilis  addreM  and  manners  were  simple,  cordial 
and  refined  ;  habitually  respectful  to  every  one,  and  most 
gentle,  to  all  who  stood  in  need  of  his  sympathy.     His  tem- 

ient  was  kind  and  genial,  generous,  loving,  and  most  just; 
pervaded  by  a  settled  aversion  to  all  that  was  mean,  cruel, 
and  1  bained   by  personal  and  moral  firmness  of  the 

highest  order,  and  thoroughly  unselfish.  After  the  middle  of 
life,  a  shade  of  melanoholy. — very  common  in  such  men  after 
life  has  been   fully  tried — was  manifest  in  him,  to  his  near 


TRIBUTE   OF  RESPECT.  31 

friends.  His  intellectual  endowments  were  more  remarkable 
for  their  admirable  balance,  than  for  the  special  eminence  of 
particular  faculties.  He  did  well,  whatever  he  did;  a  wise 
man,  sagacious  in  counsel,  strong  in  the  convictions  by  which 
his  conclusions  were  reached  ;  and  firm  and  earnest  in  execut- 
ing what  he  thought  right.  The  path-way  of  such  a  man 
through  life  was  necessarily  a  straight,  clear  way;  his  heart 
always  in  his  hand,  his  object  always  palpable  to  all  men.  He 
was  accounted,  in  his  day,  more  remarkable,  perhaps,  for  his 
oratorical  gifts  than  for  any  others  that  would  have  made  his 
public  life  so  eminent.  Besides  his  fine  appearance  and  man- 
ner, besides  his  exquisite  voice  and  intonation,  besides  the 
fervour  and  unction  of  his  spirit,  and  the  pathos  with  which 
these  noble  gifts  were  enriched — and  these  would  make  an 
orator — Dr.  Edgar's  eloquence  rested,  besides  all  this,  on  that 
honest,  simple,  deep  and  earnest  grasp  and  presentation  of  all 
he  uttered,  which  made  it  palpable  to  all  who  beard  him.  As 
a  man,  it  may  be  truly  said,  a  purer  gentleman  could  not  be; 
as  a  public  man,  a  finer  combination  for  great  comfort,  useful- 
ness, and  success  in  the  walks  he  chose,  has  rarely  been. 

It  was,  however,  chiefly  as  a  follower  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  of  God,  that  this  good 
man  ought  to  be  held  in  tender  and  grateful  recollection.  By 
birth,  and  training,  and  deep  conviction,  a  Presbyterian ;  his 
whole  religious  life  was  marked,  on  one  hand,  by  devotion  to 
the  strict  sense  of  moral  duty,  the  thoroughly  evangelical  faith, 
the  simple  and  efficacious  church  order,  and  the  untiring  zeal 
in  the  Lord's  work,  characteristic  of  that  branch  of  the  church 
of  God ;  and  on  the  other,  by  their  equally  characteristic  spirit 
of  love  and  fellowship  towards  every  other  faithful  branch  of 
the  kingdom  of  Messiah.  Clear  and  constant  in  his  own  con- 
victions; kind  and   trustful    towards   all  good  men  of  every 


32  TRtBUTl  B   -PKCV. 


specimen  of  the  body  to  which 
In   thai  straggle  and  deliverance  which 

.  his  own  denomination,  about  the  middle  of  his 
ministry,  few  of  t he  ministers  of  that  dav  acted  a  more  con- 
•us  part  for  God's  truth  ;  none  a  more  decided  one. 
Throughout  his  work,  God  was  pleased  greatly  to  bless  the  word 
•v  him,  alike  in  edifying  the  body  of  Christ,  and 
in  bringing  sinners  to  repentance.  As  an  example,  it  may  be 
Stated,  that  when  lie  settled  in  Nashville  there  wire  sixty 
members  in  his  church;  the  only  Presbyterian  Church  there; 
when  he  died,  there  were  four  hundred  and  sixty  members  in 
his  church,  and  there  were  two  or  three  other  Presbyterian 
Churches  in  that  eity ;  and  during  his  service  of  twenty-.- 

in  oil  own   church   there,  nearly  one   thousand  persons 
added  to  its  communion,  and  it  had  become  one  of  the 
powerful   congregations  in  our  connection.     In  all  that 
period  no  communion  season  occurred  without  additions  to  his 
church;   nor  was  he  ever  absent  from  those  multiplied  com- 
munions but  on  one  single  occasion.     Much,  perhaps,  of  this 
constant  success  in  winning  souls,  much  undoubtedly  of  the 
great  love  of  the  people  of  his  successive  charges  for  him,  and 
of  the  respect  and  reverence  of  every  community  in  which  he 
ever  lived,  was  due  to  the  remarkable  gifts  he  possessed  for  the 
pastoral  work,  outside  of  the  pulpit,  and  to  the  faithfulness  and 
IB  with  which  he  gave  himself  to  that  work.     A  man 
in  every  respect  worthy  of  the  whole  confidence  of  the  troubled 
soul;  competent,  by  divine  grace,  to  guide  those  around  him 
under  the  innumerable  trials  of  life;  ready  for  Christ's  sake  to 
B  share  of  every  burden  under  which  the  heavy  laden  are 
sinking;  full  of  Christian   sympathy,  with  sorrows  which  no 
mortal  can  assuage ;  such  a  man  is  a  blessing,  to   any  people, 
beyond  all  price,  and  his  reward,  even  in  this  life,  is  the  most 


TRIBUTE   OF   RESPECT.  33 

precious  of  all.  It  is  such  men  who  show  us  how  much  more 
blessed  it  is  to  give  than  to  receive;  how  much  sweeter  and 
more  ennobling  it  is  to  minister  than  to  be  ministered  unto! 

Such  ministry  was  hardly  compatible  with  very  high,  or 
very  wide  attainments,  except  in  divine  knowledge  ;  while,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  was  obliged  to  produce  a  wide  acquaintance 
with  the  general  nature  of  all  things,  and  to  foster,  by  its 
habitual  engrossments  of  the  noblest  faculties  with  the  grandest 
ideas,  ?11  that  is  pure,  and  good,  and  great  in  man.  It  is  not,  I 
suppose,  the  fact  that  Dr.  Edgar  wrote  much  ;  nor  is  it  prob- 
able that  he  has  left  behind  him,  in  a  permanent  shape,  much 
that  can  give  a  just  conception  of  what  he  was.  It  is  well 
known  that  it  was  not  his  habit  to  write  out  his  sermons  ;  how, 
indeed,  could  he  have  done  it,  and  done,  besides,  one  tenth 
part  of  what  he  accomplished;  or  how  could  he  have  read 
sermons  from  the  pulpit,  habitual  ljr,  and  been  the  preacher,  the 
evangelist,  the  orator  he  was  ?  And  yet,  probably  scattered 
materials  exist,  which,  carefully  gathered  and  rightly  used, 
would  make  a  just  sketch  of  his  life,  labors  and  times — a 
volume  of  exceeding  great  interest  and  value. 

lie  wras  twice  married.     First,  in  1810,  to  a  daughter  of  ])r. 
Andrew  Todd,  of  Paris,  Kentucky — one  of  a  family,  both  the 
parents  and  all   the  children  of  which  (one  of  them  wras  the 
late  Rev.  Andrew  Todd,)  were  remarkable,  from  the  earliest 
settlement  of  Kentucky  to  the  present  time,  for  their  gi 
piety  and  general  excellence.     All  his  surviving  children. 
whom  there  are  two  sons  and  two  daughters,  all  settled  in  life, 
are  the  fruit  of  that  marriage.     His  second  wife,  who  survr 
him,  the  object  of  tender  love  to  his  bereaved  congrcgali 
and  to  a  wide  circle  of  friends  in  Kentucky,  was  the  dang]/ 
of  the    late  John  Morris,  Esq.,    near    Frankfort,    and    I 


wi<]<>-..  r  Esq.,  a   distinguished 

Kentucky. 

man  baa  fallen  in  Israel.    S]  ecially  does  it  become 

old  soldiers  oi'  the  cross,  who 

lit  the  great  battle,  at  his  side,  to  close  their 

and  stand  more  firmly  in  their  lot    A  little  while,  ami 

tho  Grbat  Captain  will  bid  them  all  norm  up  higher! 

1!.  .1.  B. 


ACTION  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


At  the  conclusion  of  Divine  service  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Nashville,  Sabbath  morning,  the  25th  day  of  November,  18G0,  a  meeting  of 
the  congregation  was  called,  according  to  previous  arrangement,  and  the  follow- 
ing preamble  and  resolutions — submitted  by  Win.  S.  Eakin,  A.  W.  Putnam^ 
and  W.  O'N.  Perkins,  committee — were  unanimously  adopted: 

Wiikreas,  In  the  dispensation  of  His  all-wise  providence,  God  has  seen  fit 
to  remove  from  us,  by  death,  on  the  morning  of  the  13th  inst.,  our  beloved 
senior  Pastor,  the  Rev.  John  Todd  Edga,r.,  D.  D.,  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  in  this  sad  dispensation  of  Providence,  the  officers  and  mem-, 
bers  of  this  church  have  sustained  a  great  and  irreparable  loss. 

Resolved;  That  in  the  death  of  our  beloved  Pastor,  we  sustain  the  loss  of  one 
who  has  long  gone  in  and  out  before  us,  breaking  unto  us  the  bread  of  life, 
and  who,  as  a  faithful  watchman  on  the  walls  of  Zion,  lias,  for  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  proclaimed  to  us  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ,  un- 
ceasingly encouraging  us,  by  precept  and  example,  to  accept  of  the  invitation 
of  mercy  so  freely  offered  in  the  gospel. 

Resolved,  That  in  the  death  of  our  late  Pastor,  we  have  a  signal  illustration 
of  the  bold,  fearless,  and  consistent  embassador  for  Christ,  of  the  warm  sympa- 
pathizing  friend  and  comforter  in  the  hour  of  affliction,  and  of  one  of  whom, 
though  now  dead,  it  may  be  truly  said,  his  works  do  follow  him. 

Resolved,  That  while  in  our  bereavement  as  a  church,  we  deeply  mourn  our 
great  loss,  yet,  trusting  in  the  wise  appointments  of  Him  who  overrules  all 
things  for  the  good  of  his  people,  we  humbly  submit  to  His  chastening  rod. 

Resolved,  That  in  this  sore  bereavement,  we  tender  to  the  afflicted  fami 
colleague  of  our  late  Pastor,  our  warmest  sympathies,  praying  thai  all  needed 
grace  may  be  theirs,  and  that  tlii  out  fur  them   ti 

more  ereeedincj  and  eternal  weight  of  'dory. 

Ived,  That  the  above  resolutions  be  published  in  the  city  papers  I 
Presbyterian  Herald,  and  thai  a  oopyof  them  be  sent  to  the  family  of  the 
docea 


ACTION    OF  'MIL  0H1  RCH. 


\ 


On   motion  of  Pan]  F.  Bre,  M.   D.,  t lie  resolutions  as  a  whole,  were  unani- 

\:  iroi  then  n    •-•  I  and  carried  unanimously,  tliat  the  salary  eooroing  to  Dr. 

tie*]   year,  ending  1*4    September,  1801,  be 
oordiallj  tendered  t>>  Mr-.  Bdqab,  and  also  the  use  of  the  house  in  which  the 
..-.i>  to  long  reside  i. 

I  llioti,  and  Ivikin  were  appointed  a  committee  to 
oontribationi  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  monument  to  the  memory 
of  Dr.   Km;  An,  and  to  supervise  the  Fame. 
There  being  no  other  business  before  them,  the  meeting  adjourned. 

Wm.   S.   Eakin,  See';/. 


